Electric scooters are becoming a thing in many countries as they allow people to reach where they need to be without spending too much money.
(Photo : Photo by TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)
A man rides an E-Scooter of rental company Tier in Berlin on April 17, 2019. - German ministers agreed rules for using battery-powered scooters on the country's roads.
These two-wheeled zero-emission vehicles also don't consume a lot of space while they are on roads. You can even use the bike lane to avoid four-wheeled automobiles.
However, some countries restrict electric scooters from running on roads. One of them is Quebec, which has laws that state e-scooters are only allowed on private properties.
Why Electric Scooters are Illegal in Quebec
According to Global News CA's latest report, Quebec highly discourages residents from using e-scooters on public roads.
"As of right now, the law is clear. You can not use low-speed electric scooters on a public road or on a bike path that is next to the public road," said Louis-Andre Bertrand, Quebec Transport Ministry's spokesperson.
(Photo : Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Jump e-scooters, an Uber subsidiary, are parked on a sidewalk on November 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Uber's permit to rent out Jump e-scooters and e-bicycles has been 'temporarily suspended.'
However, there's still one electric scooter brand that can freely run on Quebec roads. GeeBee e-scooters are allowed on public roads as part of the country's province-wide pilot project.
This e-scooter program was launched back in 2019 and is expected to have an extension until September 2023.
Quebec explained that this pilot project is meant to study the security, safety, and integration concerns of vehicles, especially electric scooters.
Once the needed data is acquired, MTQ (Quebec Transport Ministry) will be able to know the effects of e-scooters on busy roads.
After that, officials can even create new laws that will allow electric scooters to operate safely alongside other vehicles.
How Dangerous are E-Scooters?
Since e-scooters are quite small compared to other vehicles, authorities are concerned that the safety of the users can be put in danger.
Previously, EuroNews reported that Finland conducted a study that shows how dangerous electric scooters are. In this research, more than 330 e-scooter-related injuries were recorded.
E-scooter rental firms also said that e-scooter riders took over 1.8 million trips between April 2019 and April 2021.
This means that around 18 emergency room admissions were made every 100,000 rides. Orthopedic surgeon Aleksi Reito interpreted this data, claiming that electric scooters are more prone to accidents than other vehicles.
Meanwhile, electric scooter maker Gogoro said battery swapping stations would soon take over gas stations.
On the other hand, the new partnership between Lyft and Spin is expected to make electric scooters.
For more news updates about e-scooters and other zero-emission vehicles, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
Related Article: Rentals of e-Scooters: Environmentally-Friendly or Not?
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Written by: Griffin Davis
